Welcome to My World
by Fire Burning
Summary: Series of OC one-shots. Summary for specific one-shot before each. Rated for death and whatnot.


_**AN:**_ This is to be a series of one-shots. I originally wrote this first one just for the sake of writing, but it ended up being pretty good, in my own opinion, and so I've deicded to go on writing such stories.

_Every_ one-shot here uses my own characters and features a scenario of my own creation. It's based off my TMM roleplay on Gaia. You can read about and thoroughly enjoy my creations, but please, don't decide to borrow them for your own purposes.

A warning to you now, in this first one there's quite a lot of death and injury in just nine Microsoft Word pages' worth of writing…Mostly the former…Thus the rating.

Also, I generally attempt to use Japanese in certain places, so please feel free to reprimand and/or hit me over the head with something if I messed up a meaning or a word or something! (I looked said words up online, so unfortunately I can't promise you that they are correct.)

Constructive criticism is welcome, but unfortunately if you offend me in some way I'm known to sound angry or lash out in my replies. I try not to, but I'm warning you now.

_**DISCLAIMER**_—I don't live in Japan, so naturally the creation of Tokyo Mew Mew has nothing to do with me.

**Plot Scenario**

Strange things have been happening in these past few months. Nine mysterious new Mew Mews have surfaced, and unfortunately they're not the kind you'd be expecting. Called the "Dark" Mews, they seem evil to the core, and they're set on destroying Tokyo. Even stranger still, Ryou didn't create them. However, said café-owner has taken it upon himself to stop this turmoil and chaos with nine other Mews—"Light" Mews. The opposing sides have been "warring" for months now. The sole purpose of these Mews lately seems to be fighting—what if something goes wrong?

**Japanese Translations**

Oneesan: Peanut addresses anyone and everyone older than her (as long as they are girls) with this suffix (or some variation of it). It means "older sister."

Okaasan: Mother.

Shimatta!: D-- it!

Hai: Yes.

Gomen nasai: I'm sorry.

Baka: Idiot.

Hitogoroshi: Murderer.

_**- M E W M E W P E P P A , H E N S H I N -**_

Dead silence.

Fitting for such an incident, wasn't it?

The Mew Mew in question stared at the lifeless heap of pink at her feet, the trademark fluffiness and glittery goodness of a Light Mew apparent by even a glance. A scorch mark was clearly visible on her side, and surrounding the tear in her dress a red stain told the story of what this girl's fate had been. The first Mew's violet-blue eyes, normally as hard as rock and just about as expressionless, were for once registering some sort of feeling—_fear_. Far above her head, the dark cloud of toxins that had converged to form a cloud to produce a sort of lightning storm swooped down in a whirling vortex back into their empty containers, all of their own accord, with neither direction nor an order from their commander.

Fear was a strange experience for a Dark Mew such as herself. Why was she afraid? She twirled a strand of black hair from one of her two curly pigtails around one finger and tried hard not to look frightened. Frightened? Oh, no, she was beyond frightened. She was paralyzed with fear. Sure, she, as a Dark Mew, was a sworn enemy of Light Mews like Pinky here. Those stupid Lighties were always interfering with everything. Didn't they know that it was her _job_ to destroy Tokyo? It wasn't as if she really wanted to. Heck, if she had a fair choice, she wouldn't. But dire situations called for drastic measures; Oujisama—the one who had turned her and eight other girls into Dark Mews those many months ago—promised her a remarkable sum if she and the other Dark Mew succeeded in their plans; her father, who provided most of the family income, had been murdered, and since her mother made barely enough to support her family, that money could be the difference between life and death.

Yes, they were mortal enemies, destined to fight on until one side or the other caved in.

But that didn't mean they were supposed to kill.

A flicker of light announced the transformation of the pink-clad Lightie, and in a matter of seconds the white light died away. Mew Pepper just stood there, clenching and unclenching her hands, still unable to quite grasp the fact that she—no one else but she!—was responsible for someone's death. Mew Pepper forced herself to look closer at the little girl. Mew what's-her-name had fallen on her side. Her long brown hair spilled over her shoulders, her clothes were roughed-up and dirty, and it was plain to see the injury that killed her, though Mew Pepper was very careful to avoid looking at said injury. Thank heavens Pinky's eyes were closed and some of her hair was draped across her face so Mew Pepper didn't have to see the look of fear and pain that was undoubtedly etched in her eyes; she'd probably have gotten sick if she was to see the look in her eyes. Seeing that injury wasn't much of a help for her stomach in the first place.

_She's much younger than I am,_ she noted. _She's got to be only nine or ten, as compared to my fourteen years. She's barely older than my younger brother and sister, Shio and Satou…This girl is probably someone's sister. What if Satou was in this position?_

She couldn't keep her mind from picturing the scene: Satou, her little Satou, curled up in a ball with blood on her clothes, trembling and defenseless against the faceless Mew who lifted her weapon in preparation…She shuddered, taking a long and shaky breath. _Oh, oh, no, what have I done here?_

Evidently her gasp had alerted the Lighties to what had happened. "Wataame-san!" the one with the pale blue outfit cried out. Even the Dark Mews were frozen in place as they noticed the matter at hand.

"Taikou-san?" Another Lightie was hurrying over, tossing her belled star-shaped weapon into the air, where it vanished with a loud chime. She was dressed in red; Mew Pepper knew who this one was. Her outfit was rather simple for a Mew—a tank top-like shirt, pale red, with tiny, loose, fading-into-cherry-red sleeves that were no more than a dangling piece of fabric, as was the bottom half of the shirt; a pair of capri pants have the same theme as the top but with the colors reversed, for the shirt-like extensions that began at the leg holes faded into pale red from the pants' main color of cherry-red; and don't forget the arm bands and choker. The twitching, furry ginger ears, long striped tail, childish outfit…the giant red bow on the back of her head was a dead giveaway. This was Shokubutsu Outou—Mew Cherry, the eleven-year-old leader of the Lighties. She crouched down, checked for a pulse…then she shook her head, and struggled for a moment to pick the younger girl up. She turned her head in the direction of the other Light Mews.

"She's—" Mew Cherry broke off, her big namesake-colored eyes welling up with tears. She dropped her gaze to the girl in her arms, unable to look at her teammates. "It's t-too late…She's dead."

The Lighties were all abandoning their own little skirmishes, shedding any and all weapons they had on their personas as they gathered around Mew Cherry and Wataame, as Mew Pepper figured her given name was. Most of them were voicing their disbelief that something like this could happen, a couple just stood there, shocked, while the youngest members of the group were unable to refrain from crying.

Mew Pepper jumped in surprise when she felt a tiny tug on both her black, ruffled skirt and the bottom of her gray-speckled black sleeveless top, and someone brushed by her magnificent black-and-cyan Queen Alexandra's birdwing butterfly wings. "Koshi-neechan?" Mew Pepper glanced over her shoulder to see one of her own teammates standing there, eight-year-old Mew Peanut. Her golden-brown Syrian hamster ears, usually perked with everlasting happiness, were flat against her head, her white-blonde chin-length hair was falling into her face, and she looked both confused and worried.

Mew Pepper tried desperately to keep her voice calm. "Yes, Peanut-chan?" she addressed the little Mew, well aware of the fact that Mew Peanut disliked being spoken to with the title "Mew" affixed to her name—not to mention that the English word "Peanut" was one of her most widely-known nicknames, though it was reserved for use by people she was close to.

"Koshi-neechan, I don't get it." Mew Peanut looked more perplexed than ever; she scuffled the toes of her sun-yellow boots together. "I saw her fall down after she got hit with your lightning." Mew Pepper winced at the mere mention of her little friend seeing someone die. "Is she really hurt? She shouldn't be…"

"…Yes." Mew Pepper sighed with some difficulty. "She's—she's dead, Peanut-chan…"

Mew Peanut's eyes widened, and she subconsciously grabbed handfuls of her billowy golden-yellow sleeveless dress. The cream-colored sash around her waist shifted ever so slightly. "But…I thought this was a game." Mew Peanut's amber eyes were wide as she looked into Mew Pepper's violet-blue ones. Suddenly her weapon was in her hands—a huge, elastic, cream-colored ribbon. She stared at it in disbelief, perhaps realizing now what it could so, while she whispered despairingly, "People don't get hurt in games. People…people aren't s'pposed to die!"

"You." Mew Pepper was saved from having to reply to these thoroughly depressing statements by a word from the Lighties' leader, which sounded more like some sort of growl. She turned and looked over at the red-clad Lightie glaring daggers at her. The normally soft-spoken and kindly Mew Cherry had clearly abandoned all of her own precepts as she spat out, "It's thanks to _you_ that we've lost our friend, _Mew Pepper_. All of you Dark Mews had better be battle-ready later today. We'll see you at the park at sunset. This time, we won't hold back."

With a final glare that would have killed had it been possible, she turned away sharply, and she and the other Light Mews left in a tightly-knit group, consoling one another. Mew Pepper presumed they were off to inform the girl's parents about her death. That would be an adventure for sure…How would one go about explaining a teammate's death, especially when that teammate's identity was a secret? _Oh, hi, stangers, we mysteriously found your daughter lying in the street. She asked for help and told us her name and where she lived but there wasn't anything we could do to save her. The Dark Mews must have picked her to be their latest victim. We're so sorry._

"Mew Pepper." The black-clothed Mew Mew was quickly startled out of the trance of fear that Mew Cherry's miniature speech had brought about. Mew Lime was standing in front of her, her near-black-feathered wings ruffled by the breeze and her arms crossed thoughtfully. Mew Pepper couldn't suppress a shudder as she looked into the green Mew Mew's expressionless black eyes.

"What were you _thinking_?" Another Dark Mew cut across Mew Lime's coming advice, sounding angry. "You've killed one of them! Now the stupid Lighties are out for revenge, and they're not going to stop until they get it! You're a—"

"Let me speak." Mew Lime broke into the conversation again. Running a hand through her boyishly short forest-green hair, she ordered her teammate, "Hurry up and get going. You can't go to the park with us. If you're at that battle it'll just rile up the Lighties even more, and chances are that their main target is you. Take Mew Peanut with you; this isn't a battle for the littlest Mews. This is full-out war. Both of you ought to transform out of your Mew aliases. We'll fend off the Lighties as long as we can tonight; your job is to get as far away from here as possible. I know I'm not your leader or anything, but just do it."

"But I—the battle—I—Will Oujisama _agree_ to this?" Mew Pepper protested weakly.

"Who the heck _cares_ if Oujisama agrees or not? He's gonna be furious with all of us anyway for letting this happen, if he didn't want any deaths. Just go!" Mew Pepper blinked in surprise as the first smile she'd ever seen from her, admittedly a half-smile but still a smile all the same, crossed Mew Lime's face. "You didn't _mean _to make that Lightie die, and all of us here know it. We're your _teammates_, you know, partners in crime, and have been for months now; you should be able to trust us to do what we can for you."

Mew Pepper hesitantly smiled back. Mew Lime was right. The others would do what they could for her, even if they weren't too happy with her at the moment. That's what teammates—friends!—did. A flash of light, and Mew Pepper was replaced by Koumiryou Koshou, a brown-haired girl with similarly-colored eyes and a white dress and sandals on. She took the hand offered to her by white-blonde-haired Kegawa Nankinmame, who just moments ago was Mew Peanut.

"Let's go, Peanut-chan."

"Sekkai-oneesan?" Peanut looked to the other girl for her agreement, and as soon as it was given the two dashed a short distance away. Koshi paused. Peanut hesitated as well after a moment. The elder girl looked over her shoulder. "Thank you," Koshi whispered to the other Dark Mews, before she and Peanut started off on their long trek.

**_- M E W M E W P E P P A , H E N S H I N -_**

"Koshi-neechaaaaan, where are we _go_-ing?"

"I don't know. Now hush up, Peanut-chan." Koshi couldn't help but quiet the little girl more irritably than she intended; the tension crackling in the air was a bit too much for her. However, she wasn't going to waste the breath to apologize. Not when she needed it for running. Peanut's soft yawn sounded loud in her ears as the littlest Dark Mew settled down for the ride. It didn't matter how energetic she was; the fact was that Peanut couldn't run at Koshi's pace to save her life, and unfortunately the whole "to save her life" part was kind of necessary here. Not long ago Koshi had finally given up on Peanut's chances for making it on her own two feet—it was one stop too many in a long chain since they'd started on their journey—and informed her little companion that from that point onward she was luggage. She was getting _carried_ out of harm's way. Thankfully, Peanut was more than happy to accept the offer of a piggyback ride. If worst came to worst and Koshi couldn't go on much longer with the added weight, they'd have to find a safe place to hide out for the night, or Koshi might even have to resort to transforming in order to hop from roof to roof to escape faster. The latter wasn't a recommended idea.

The sun was almost completely hidden by the horizon, the sky turning a deeper blue, when Peanut voiced her next comment. "This is stupid," she muttered sleepily. "Okaasan is gonna be so mad at me for being out late…I'm s'pposed to be going to bed by now."

Koshi couldn't bring herself to remind Peanut that if things got any worse she might never see her mother again; neither could she help herself from pondering about the state of her own family. She was sure that out of the two of them, Peanut and herself, it was her who was the least likely to see her family again. Who _knew_ what the Lighties knew about her civilian life? They had nothing against Peanut, other than her being a Dark Mew, but Koshi was more than sure that they had put a high price on her head. They could be well aware of her name, Koumiryou Koshou, and that she had a mother and two younger siblings, for all she knew. Perhaps they even knew where she lived. What were they doing right now? Koshi's mother was probably frantic; her daughter was almost always home for dinner unless "after-school activities"—Mew Mew duties—interfered, and was most definitely home by dark. As for the twins, Satou should be getting increasingly worried soon, while Shio would awkwardly assure her that surely Koshi was fine. Just fine. If only…

She wanted to say goodbye so _badly_, but it would be terrible if she led the Lighties right to her front door and they exacted their revenge on not only herself but on her family as well.

"We'll be done running soon, Peanut-chan," she sighed finally. She paused in the middle of the deserted sidewalk to take another breath before racing on.

_We'll be done running soon, _she'd said. This was bad. That statement was more accurately a maybe. She'd been so panicked over the pink Lightie's death that she hadn't paid enough attention to where she was going. By this point she was utterly lost and had no idea where she'd already been, not to mention where she was now. There was no point in worrying Peanut about it, though; surely she'd find a place she recognized before long, right?

They had to get away. There was no way she was letting the Dark Mews get to little Peanut, who was finally just beginning to understand that this fighting that they did wasn't just a game.

Time passed quickly.

"Shimatta!" Koshi couldn't help but curse to the high heavens when she found herself standing in front of the entrance to the park. The park she wasn't supposed to go near. The place where the Lighties and her teammates had begun battling it out an hour ago at latest. She wasn't supposed to be here!

_But…_ Koshi looked wistfully at the path that led straight through the heart of the park and to the other entrance on the opposite side. _Going through here would save some time. They wouldn't have battled right here on the path, in the way of pedestrians and whatnot, would they? No, surely not…It should be safe. Anyone in their right mind would have battled off where no one else could be hurt on accident. And I can run as fast as I can towards and out the other entryway, just to be even safer. Yeah…that should work._

Peanut had fallen asleep not long ago, slumped on Koshi's shoulder. "Peanut-chan," Koshi whispered loudly, unable to lift a hand to shake the younger girl for fear of dropping her. "Peanut-chan! Wake up. I need you to do something very important for me."

"Mmmn…what, Koshi-neechan?" Peanut finally stirred, rubbing her eyes with the side of one hand, and murmured her question almost inaudibly. "'S'not morning yet…"

"I know, but this is a super important job." Peanut blinked and nodded slowly for Koshi to go on. "We're gonna take a shortcut. If you see any Lighties, I need you to let me know, and if they try to hurt me, I want you to run away as fast as you can."

"I…um…okay," Peanut stammered, looking faintly scared.

"I'm sure we'll be fine, though. I bet they all went home." Koshi prayed to whatever celestial beings there were that everyone, Light and Dark alike, had all gone home. _Oh, please, let them all have gone home!_ "Ready?"

"Hai..." Peanut nodded, clinging on to Koshi's neck tightly.

They set off at a running pace through the park, following the faint outline of the path in the darkness. With every passing step Peanut was holding on tighter and tighter, clearly getting more scared the longer they spent in the park. Koshi wouldn't admit it, but she was pretty scared, too. Thankfully, all seemed quiet.

She stopped in her tracks. "No—Oh, no."

She had been wrong. They _had _fought on the path.

So much for that...

Peanut choked back a sob, and Koshi suddenly felt droplets of water soaking into a sleeve of her dress. "Koshi-neechan…Why? I…I d-don't…Why?"

_Why_? Why had the Lighties _done _this? Why had her _teammates _done the same in return?

"Why? Because of me—that's why…"

She was feeling nothing but emotional numbness right now, but she knew she shouldn't have let them go. Her teammates were goners from the minute she allowed them to go off to this stupid war-type battle without her. This wouldn't have happened if she had given herself up at the beginning.

All of them were dead. Sprawled out in the grass or on the path in their typical non-Mew forms, Lighties had fallen among Dark Mews. None of them stirred in any way. The park was eerily silent.

"Unh…Mew Pepper…?"

There was one left.

"Sekkai-san?" Koshi gasped and didn't hesitate to hurry over to the younger girl's side.

"You're…not supposed…to be here." Sekkai was using up a lot of effort just to talk. She was cut very badly on her sides and neck, and her blonde hair was chopped off to make it even shorter than it normally was, though by whose attack Koshi couldn't be sure. Judging by the many smaller cuts all over her body, it was her guess that it was Mew Cherry's "Cherry Gale" attack that did this; the Gale was notorious for its slicing power, though it was never quite fully utilized—until now, obviously. Her sides heaved desperately. "They're…Lighties're still…ugh…" She couldn't go on any longer; Mew Pepper turned her head away, unable to watch while Peanut remained a silent sentinel and refused to budge. When she looked back, she who was once Mew Lime was lying on her stomach and facing away from them, in concern for Mew Peanut.

She would never move again.

Mew Pepper bowed her head with sorrow.

"Sekkai-san…Gomen nasai…"

Peanut shrieked shrilly. "Light—"

She broke off as someone shoved her out of the way, hard. The littlest Mew fell on her side next to Koshi with an audible thud; she let out a faint cry of pain and struggled to sit up again.

"Peanut! Transform, baka!" Koshi ordered her. She sighed. There was no choice. "Mew Mew Pepper…metamorphosis," she whispered, accompanied by Peanut's announcement of "Mew Mew Peanut, metamorphosis!" Two separate flashes of light, two transformation sequences that seemed to take longer than they really did; then she spoke again. "Mew Peanut has nothing to do with this. Leave her alone!" Mew Pepper spoke in a low tone angrily, glaring malevolently up at the two figures that loomed above her. Why _them_? Why did _these _Lighties have to live, out of them all?

"Well, well! Where have _you_ been hiding all this time?" spoke the pale blue-outfitted Mew, tossing her long sky-blue pigtails with a grin, evidently more than sure that they, the Lighties, were in the winner's circle. _She's the one who called out the pink Lightie's name when she died_, Koshi reflected. She had obviously fought previous to this, judging by the scrapes and such on her body and her torn skirt. She held on with both hands to a long red-and-white-striped peppermint stick, topped with a giant, glittery snowflake ornament.

"Mew Peppermint, does it really matter where she's _been_ by this point?" Mew Cherry looked just about on the verge of collapsing; scorch marks littered her body and one side of her right arm was burned. Sekkai, Mew Lime, was lucky to have a weapon that didn't require much accuracy and still managed to hurt anyone within a five-foot radius: bombs in the form of and wielded like arrows, that detonated upon hitting something solid. "The point is that she and Mew Peanut are both here _now_. I just want to get this over with."

Mew Cherry held up her weapon; bells chimed on the points of her red star-shaped weapon as she asked with a sigh, "Which one of you goes first?"

"Wait! Let Mew Peanut leave." Mew Pepper's eyes were defying all their owner's wishes—her eyes were visibly pleading with the Lighties. "I'll be good and make this easy for you, just let her get out of here alive and unharmed. Don't hurt her!"

"Are you _mad_? How _stupid_ do you think we are?" Mew Peppermint aimed a kick at Mew Pepper's shins while prodding her hard in the stomach with her weapon, and the black Mew winced. "That's a _Dark Mew _you're asking us to set free. She's a threat to the people of Tokyo, just like the rest of you evil, demon Mews. No way are we letting a criminal go…no matter _how_ old she may be." Mew Peppermint elbowed her teammate gently, evidently careful not to cause more injury to the already badly hurt Light Mew, and pointed in Mew Peanut's direction. The yellow Dark Mew was just sitting on the path without having moved from her sitting position, petrified and staring at the scene with wide, scared eyes. She hadn't even called out "Battle-time time" like she did so often upon the appearance of a Light Mew. "Get her first. It'll make Mew Hitogoroshi here's disposal easier for us if Mew Peanut-sized is out of the way."

Mew Cherry nodded, expressionless. "Just stay still and I'll be able to kill you on the first go," she said dully. She glanced away. "Gomen nasai"—she lifted her head up again, and now she looked and sounded fiercely determined—"but this is for the best. Maybe not the best for you personally, but the best for everyone else in Tokyo. None of you will hurt or kill _anyone_…ever again."

Her eyes turned stony.

"For Mew Cotton Candy." She hesitated, eyes shining with hurt, as if remembering her teammate caused her pain. "Ribbon…"

The golden, star-shaped centerpiece of her weapon began to turn, rapidly increasing its speed. Mew Pepper stared at it, horrified.

_Not Peanut! I can't be responsible for her, too…Like that Mew…_

"…Cherry…"

The star spun faster still.

_It's all my fault…Now she's going to…_

"…Gale."

"Oneechan!"

_…die._

I can't let her die!

Winds worthy of a hurricane burst out of the Cherry Star's whirling center. Mew Pepper pulled Mew Peanut against herself and turned, facing away from the hurricane-like winds that were set on destroying them.

_I won't let you die._

_**Either way, this is the end.**_


End file.
